The Canterbury Trail is littered with Geeks.

Tell your story in six words?

Ernest Hemingway supposedly wrote that eerie but decidedly evocative six-word story in a bar room challenge. It’s just a literary urban legend, but the idea that a gifted storyteller can get their point across in so few words is still a formidable challenge for writers. That’s why Smith Magazine launched its Six Word Memoir project in 2006, asking readers to send in their life stories in six words. What was meant to fill space after writers backed out of an assignment turned into a full-fledged writing trend, as the magazine received a deluge of responses. The project blossomed into an ongoing challenge, with six books published with some of the best responses. Teachers use “six words” as a prompt in the classroom, it’s an icebreaker at conventions — and it’s an annual Twitter Festival.

This year, from September 24-26, the Six Words Festival provides Twitter users with a variety of different prompts encouraging them to craft six word yarns. Celebrity judges read the responses, retweet the ones they like best, and decide daily winners. The standout entries may get included in the next installment of Six Words books.

The first prompt on the schedule was “I Will Never Do That Again.” Members of the cast of Orange is the New Black and Regina Spektor, as well as the creator of the show, Piper Kerman, judged the set of tweets. Jason Biggs was especially enthusiastic (remember, he plays Larry Smith in OITNB, who is the founder of the magazine). The real-life creator of Smith Magazine got the ball rolling: